The IDRL Project Writers Meeting was held in Geneva from 23-25 May 2003, bringing together a range of experts from the academic, government and disaster response fields, both from within and external to the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. Many of the participants were conducting research and preparing papers to include in the International Federation’s publication on IDRL, due for release at the end of 2003.

The meeting provided an opportunity to review and compare the results of IDRL research on different topics and different regions and to begin to form a more comprehensive picture of the scope and content of existing IDRL instruments. It also revealed some interesting insights from field practitioners relating to their experiences with and level of exposure to IDRL and various other international and national instruments.

These findings were then used as the basis for discussing the future directions for the IDRL Project including the following issues:

• How can IDRL contribute to the improvement of international disaster response?
  
• What are the roles of the various international disaster response actors with respect to IDRL? Considering especially the International Federation, Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies, ICRC, states, the UN system, other inter-governmental and non governmental organisations
  
• What could be the immediate, medium and long term visions for the promotion, strengthening and development of IDRL?
  
• What are the major findings and issues relating to IDRL that should be presented to the International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, and what should the objectives and outcomes from this conference be for IDRL?

Discussions on these various topics were lively and diverse, however it was clear that on some issues there was clear consensus and agreement of all – particularly concerning the value of the IDRL Project in collecting the wide range of legal and non-legal instruments relevant to disaster response, the importance of having a clear legal framework or structure to assist in identifying and analysing the existing body of instruments, and finally recognition of the important role IDRL could play in the future to improve the international disaster response system.

The outcomes of the various discussions of the group will assist in identifying the key issues to be included in the IDRL Project report, to be presented to the International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement in December 2003.